About this product

Description

Description

When a parent dies, most adults are seized by an unexpected crisis that can trigger a profound transformation. Using in-depth interviews and national surveys, Dr Umberson explains why the death of a parent has strong effects on adults and looks at protective factors that help some individuals experience better mental health following the death than they did when the parent was alive. This is the first book to rely on sound scientific method to document the significant adverse effects of parental death for adults in a national population. Exploring the social and psychological risk factors that make some people more vulnerable than others, readers will come to view the loss of a parent in a new way: as a turning point in adult development.

Author Biography

Debra Umberson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is an expert on intimate relationships and health. Using in-depth interviews and national surveys, she explains why the death of a parent has strong effects on adults, often for the worse, but sometimes for the better. She has written numerous articles on marriage and divorce, parent/child relationships, and how gender roles impact men's and women's health. She is currently writing a book about couples in long term relationships, highlighting the challenges of maintaining sexual and emotional intimacy over the life course.